Disclaimer: Don't own Gundam Wing or The Parent Trap.

~*~

The Maxwell Trap

by Dorothy Winner

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When the four girls arrived at the mess hall, there was a long line of girls getting their food.

"Oh man," said Heidi, "it's going to take forever to get our food!"

"You guys go ahead," said Megan. "We'll go get a table so you guys have someplace to sit. We'll get into line when it's not so long."

"Okay!" Heidi and Liane got into line, each grabbing a plate. The line slowly inched forward until they reached the actual food trays.

"Ugh, I don't like cheeseburgers," said the girl in front of Liane. She turned around. "I picked up the wrong thing… do you want this?"

"Sorry, I'm a vegetarian," said Liane. She did a double take at seeing the girl in front of her. "Wait… how'd you get in front of me?"

"Oh, I've been in front of you the whole time," said Sydney. "I think it's unfair for people to cut into lines, don't you?" She grabbed two hamburgers for herself, then a third burger. "Veggie burger?" she said, offering it to Liane.

"Sure. Thanks," said Liane, taking the burger. She looked at Sydney oddly. "When'd your hair get so long?"

"Oh, it's been long ever since I was a little kid; I never cut it," said Sydney, tossing her braid and grabbing an orange soda. "Well, see ya!" she said, leaving the lunch line.

Liane frowned in puzzlement. Something was not quite right…

"Yuck, I hate cheeseburgers," said the girl behind Liane, putting the cheeseburger back on the tray and grabbing two hamburgers.

Liane turned around and did another double take. "Heidi! How'd you get behind me?"

"I've been behind you the whole time, Liane," said Heidi, grabbing an orange soda. "You know I never cut in front of people."

"Yeah," said Liane, "you just told me…"

~*~

Sydney scanned the rows and rows of tables for Alexandra and Gabrielle, who had been ahead of her in line and had already sat down somewhere.

Megan and Julia were sitting at the table directly in front of her. "Heidi! Heidi! Right here!" they called, waving their arms.

Sydney made no indication of recognizing them, continuing to scan the tables.

"Heidi! We're right here! Can't you see us?!" cried Megan.

Sydney finally spotted Alexandra and Gabrielle sitting at a table by a window at the far end of the mess hall. She waved to them and headed in their direction, walking right past Megan and Julia without any sign of acknowledgement.

Megan and Julia stared after her. "Why'd she ignore us?" said Julia.

Megan shrugged. "I have no idea…"

Just then, Heidi and Liane sat down next to them. "Hey," said Heidi, unwrapping a hamburger and taking a large bite.

Julia stared at her. "What're you… we just saw you go sit at another table," she said.

"Dunno what you're talking about… Liane and I just came from the lunch line," Heidi said thickly through a mouthful of burger.

"But you were… never mind," said Megan, shaking her head. She turned to Julia.

"Do you get the feeling something very strange is going on?"

~*~

Liane and Heidi were done with their burgers by the time the line cleared up enough for Megan and Julia to go through the line fairly quickly and get something to eat.

Megan and Julia got up to get their food. "Oh wait," said Heidi, "I want to go with you, I'm still kind of hungry, actually."

"I told you," Megan whispered to Julia, "she's a bottomless pit…"

Megan got into line, followed by Heidi and then Julia. Julia pointed to a greenish-brown substance that was labeled 'Chef's Surprise.' So Heidi would eat anything, huh? "Dare you to try that," she said.

Heidi gave the glop an appraising look. "Okay. May I have the Chef's Surprise, please?" she asked the lady behind the hood.

The lunch lady grabbed a ladle and scooped the 'surprise' onto a plate with a sickening splat. Julia gagged. "Thanks," said Heidi, taking the plate. She grabbed a spoon and fork. "Meet you back at the table, okay?" said Heidi.

Julia gaped. 'That girl's stomach must be made of steel,' she thought.

As she grabbed a chicken sandwich from the tray under the hood, Julia heard the girl behind her ask, "Can I have the Chef's Surprise, please?"

Julia turned around and stared at the girl. "Guess you really liked that stuff, huh?"

Sydney thanked the lunch lady as she took the plate. "Oh, I'm just back for seconds," she said. "I like trying new things… if they're serving it to us, it must be edible, right?"

Julia was thinking quite the opposite. "Um, I guess…" she said, leaving the lunch line with her chicken sandwich.

Her confused expression became even more confused upon seeing Heidi back at the table. "How'd you get back so quickly?" she asked.

"I was in front of you, remember?" said Heidi, eating a spoon of the green glop, whereupon Megan and Liane made disgusted faces. "What?" said Heidi. "I don't know what it is, but it tastes good. Sometimes you're better off not knowing, you know?"

Julia just sat down and began to eat her sandwich. Somehow, she couldn't shake off this weird feeling of déjà vu…

~*~

"I think I'm going to get some dessert," said Alexandra, getting up from their table.

"Really?" said Sydney as she spooned the glop into her mouth, which made Gabrielle gag. "Can you get me some too?"

"Sure," said Alexandra. "You too, Gabrielle?"

"No thanks," said Gabrielle, "I—I just lost my appetite…"

"Okay then, I'll be right back," said Alexandra, heading for the lunch line. When she got into line she stared at the girl in front of her. "How'd you get here in front of me?" she asked.

"Sorry, I was here before you," said Heidi, taking a plate with a slice of apple pie.

"Um… okay," said Alexandra. A little confused, she just took one plate for herself. She stared at Heidi's shoulder-length hair. "When'd you cut your hair?"

"Oh, I had it trimmed just before I left for camp; d'you like it?" asked Heidi.

Alexandra was so perplexed she didn't say anything. She just stared at Heidi with a strange look on her face. Sydney never cut her hair…

Heidi misinterpreted Alexandra's confused expression as a look of disgust. "Okay, geez, if you don't like it just say so," she said, a little miffed, quickly leaving the lunch line.

Alexandra brought her plate back to where Sydney and Gabrielle were sitting and sat down. Sydney looked up. "Hey, where's my pie?"

"You were ahead of me in the line," said Alexandra. "Did you eat it already?"

"I was here the whole time," said Sydney. "Ask Gabrielle. I didn't get up once, did I?"

"No," said Gabrielle, shaking her head.

"That's not possible," said Alexandra, "I know I saw you there, I talked to you… wait, your hair's long again…"

Sydney looked at Alexandra with a concerned expression. "Are you okay?"

~*~

After Alexandra and Sydney had finished their dessert, Gabrielle got up. "I'm just going to the bathroom, okay?" she said, heading for the bathroom doors at the other end of the mess hall.

As she approached the doors, they opened and Heidi came out. Gabrielle was startled. Wasn't Sydney still at the table? "Hi," said Gabrielle as she passed Heidi.

"Oh, hi," said Heidi, giving Gabrielle a friendly smile.

Gabrielle scratched her head, puzzled, as she went into the bathroom. Something was different about her; she just couldn't quite put her finger on it…

Gabrielle left the bathroom a few minutes later, only to pass Sydney going in. "Hey. Didn't you just go to the bathroom a few minutes ago?"

"No," said Sydney, looking at her strangely. "I'm going right now…"

"Really? I just saw you leaving as I was going in…" Gabrielle shook her head. "Never mind. I must be imagining things…"

"Yeah," said Sydney, "you must be…"

Gabrielle went back to their table and sat down next to Alexandra. Alexandra looked at her.

"I have this feeling that we're totally missing something…"

~*~

"So what do we do with our plates once we're done?" asked Sydney once she had returned from the bathroom.

"The counselors gather them over there," said Alexandra, nodding her head over to where Mariemaia was taking dirty dishes and putting them in a large bin.

"Okay then, let's get rid of these," said Sydney. "The sooner we do, the sooner we can get back to our cabin."

The three of them got up and brought their dishes over to Mariemaia. "Thanks," said Mariemaia as she took Sydney's dishes.

Sydney, Alexandra, and Gabrielle left the mess hall just as Megan, Julia, Liane, and Heidi got up from their table and brought their plates up to Mariemaia.

"More dishes, dear?" said Mariemaia as Heidi gave her her dishes.

"No, sorry, these are my only ones," said Heidi.

"Really?" said Mariemaia. "I could have sworn I saw you here already… Oh well, two hundred girls is a lot, you know, it can get pretty confusing sometimes…"

"That's okay," said Heidi, joining the others to go back to their cabin. Megan was right; Mariemaia was a little crazy…

~*~

TBC…